KOWA Party has issued a strong
disclaimer against its reported endorsement of President Muhammadu Buhari for
second term. The Party’s national chairman’s name, Saidu Bobboi, and his
signature were published as among the national chairmen who signed a full-page
advertorial in today’s ThisDay newspaper endorsing the president.

However, the national headquarters
of the Party has come out strongly against the endorsement through a statement
issued by the Party’s national secretary, Comrade Mark Adebayo, at the Party’s
national headquarters in Abuja today.

“It has come as a rude shock to
the Party’s National Executive Committee of KOWA Party that the Party’s name
was published as among political Parties purported to have endorsed the
incumbent president Muhammadu Buhari for second term. KOWA Party was never and
will never be part of such thoughtless and shameless contraption of
endorsement. As far we are concerned it fake news!”

“We urge all KOWA Party members
and supporters accross the country and Diaspora to completely disregard such
sociopolitical sacrilege against the noble spirit and cause that KOWA Party
represents. KOWA Party will never support the complete failure that the Buhari
government represents. That was why the Party joined the Coalition of United
Political Parties and has actively participated in all its activities leading
up to the emergence of Ex-VP Atiku Abubakar as coalition candidate. KOWA Party
remains an integral part of the CUPP and cannot, just a few days to the
presidential election, commit such an irresponsible and ridiculous volteface to
endorse a government we have consistently criticised for the aggravated
backwardness, insecurity, unprecedented corruption, arrogant nepotism,
cluelessness and cabal domination as attested to even by Mrs. Aisha Buhari, the
president’s wife. KOWA Party is standing on solid abutments of honor and
ideological integrity that can’t just be rubbished so brazenly and shamelessly.
We therefore strongly and unequivocally dissociate the Party from the
endorsement of President Muhammadu Buhari”.

Responding to a telephone interview
on the matter when he was asked what would become of the One Hundred Million
Naira each allegedly collected by the endorsing Parties, Comrade Mark Adebayo
who also doubles as the Party’s Chief Executive Officer as enshrined in the
Party’s Constitution responded that

“Well, if anybody collected One
Hundred Million Naira to endorse Buhari he or she did so at his/her own peril,
not on behalf of KOWA Party. Those who gave the money knows who collected such
cursed money from them and know how to recover their corrupted money. No such
amount or any amount for that matter for such shameful action was credited into
KOWA Party’s account. The creditors must surely know who their debtor is”.

Asked if he had confirmed from the
national chairman if he was involved in the endorsement, Comrade Mark retorted
“I don’t have to confirm anything from him. He knows he doesn’t have such
constitutional authority or power nor mandate to commit the Party in that
manner without prior and official consultations and official approval by the
National Executive Committee of the Party at least. And, I know him well enough
to affirm that he won’t violate the Party’s constitutional in such a flagrant
way. Saidu Bobboi, to the best of my knowledge, won’t do such a thing. We are
close and have been political allies for years. I consider it fake news”,
he insisted.

When asked if it comes out
eventually true that the Party’s national chairman actually committed the Party
to the endorsement without consulting with the Party’s leaders and members,
Comrade Mark said “When we get to that bridge we will cross it. I can’t
proceed from a point of view of assumptions presently. But, if in the unlikely
event of it being true, there are internal Party mechanisms for dealing with
such serious infractions and we shall apply them fully and uncompromisingly.
But up till now he hasn’t confirmed such despite several questions being raised by many concerned and agitated Party
members, leaders and critical stakeholders”.

“All KOWA Party agents across
the country are hereby directed to proceed with earlier directives to work for
KOWA Party National Assembly candidates on Saturday February 16 and the CUPP
consensus presidential candidate same day. We can’t kill our Party this
way”, the Party’s National Secretary concluded.